This photo of a room used to isolate students was published in the report “Stop Hurting Kids: Restraint and Seclusion in BC Schools.”

This photo of a room used to isolate students was published in the report “Stop Hurting Kids: Restraint and Seclusion in BC Schools.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy Inclusion BC

Ban seclusion for students, demand experts

A child with Down syndrome was routinely placed in a seclusion room at school and news of the case has renewed demands for an end to the practice.

An advocacy group in the western province of British Columbia called Inclusion BC issued a report two years ago called “Stop Hurting Kids: Restraint and Seclusion in BC Schools.” It documented widespread us of restraint and seclusion in the province’s schools and called for a ban on it.

‘Teachers are desperate’

It’s not known how often in Canada disruptive children are placed in rooms and locked in or otherwise prevented from leaving until they calm down. “This is probably not a terribly uncommon practice,” says Pat Mirenda, a professor in education at the University of British Columbia.

ListenWhy do teachers do it? “Because they’re desperate, because they don’t know what else to do. And here’s a child who is engaging in behaviour that is presumably dangerous to himself or others, although I’ve certainly known kids to be placed in seclusion rooms even though they are not engaging in dangerous behaviour ,” she says.

Prof. Pat Mirenda says seclusion can traumatize students and there are alternative ways to deal with difficult or dangerous situations.
Prof. Pat Mirenda says seclusion can traumatize students and there are alternative ways to deal with difficult or dangerous situations. © Julie Acres/UBC

Alternatives are ‘not rocket science’

There are other ways to deal with such problems, says Mirenda. These ways are evidence-based and “not rocket science” or expensive to put in place.

Nothing much is learned from isolating children and they may be traumatized by the practice, and their classmates may be as well, she adds.

The premier of the province promised to conduct an investigation into the practice of secluding students in November 2013. The department of education began developing guidelines but nothing has been finalized yet.

‘Serious and egregious harm’

Inclusion BC says it continues to hear from families whose children are being restrained and secluded at school. It decries what it calls “the lack of a strong leadership position” and “a resounding lack of commitment to keeping the most vulnerable students safe.”

It is calling for a law banning the practice and for a plan of action to prevent “the serious and egregious harm done to students.”

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